The purpose of this page is to explain more about our fabric choices, why we choose to use the fabrics we do, and about some of the characteristics, pros, and cons of those fabrics.

Our Traditional Organic Cotton is the first fabric that we used, starting back when EmBraced In Comfort started 5 years ago. We wanted to choose a fabric that is as close to chemical-free as possible. The Traditional Organic Cotton fabric is actually 92% Organic Cotton, and 8% Spandex. Spandex is necessary for high elasticity (stretch) and recovery (coming back from the stretch) and our fabrics have 4-way stretch, which means they stretch in ALL directions. Many knits do not have 4-way stretch, but we find that it is necessary to meet all of the needs of our customer. Our Organic Cotton was manufactured in the USA. Although customers love the softness, thinness, and durability of this fabric, many customers wanted to see more moisture wicking available. Moisture wicking is the movement of moisture from the skin to the outer edge of the fabric. The Organic Cotton has excellent absorbency (a general characteristic of all cottons), but did not wick moisture away from the skin as much as we would like. We continue to offer White, black, and lavender in the Traditional Organic Cotton, while supplies last. Eventually, we will be phasing it out of production, replacing it with our Rayon (from Bamboo) Blend.

Our Rayon (From Bamboo) Blend, consists of 67% Rayon from Bamboo, 27% Organic Cotton, and 6% Spandex. The blend, formerly referred to as "Bamboo Blend", is manufactured in Canada. We changed the name to avoid confusion and to follow the guidelines set forth by the FTC. We currently offer the Rayon (From Bamboo) blend in White, but we will soon be integrating black and raspberry. This fabric is even more lightweight than our Organic Cotton blend, and has excellent wicking of moisture (which we verified in independent fabric tests). You can read about all the properties of Rayon here, but a few benefits are that the fibers do a good job of absorbing and wicking moisture and the fabrics tend to feel cool to the touch, making them nice choices for under hot Scoliosis braces. The fibers are also very soft and comfortable. Some of the Cons of Rayon: It is less abrasion resistant than our Traditional Organic Cotton (which means that holes may wear in it sooner) and, although Bamboo the PLANT is extremely environmentally friendly, Rayon (from Bamboo), the FABRIC, is made using chemicals. It is classified as a re-generated fiber, which means it is a man-made fiber, made from natural materials (other types of Rayon can be made from other types of wood pulp). However, we feel that combining the Rayon (from Bamboo) with the Organic Cotton gives us a "best of both worlds" scenario. The combination will help with the abrasion aspect, reduce the amount of chemicals used to process the raw material, but still provide the moisture wicking ability of the Rayon. We felt that moisture management was of utmost importance for Scoliosis brace-wearing patients, so we prioritized this over the abrasion issue (which is also very important, but we couldn't have a perfect scenario for both). Keep in mind that just because the GARMENT wicks moisture, does not mean that the moisture can escape from under a plastic Scoliosis brace. We always recommend getting your Orthotist to put as many air holes as possible into the brace, to allow the moisture to evaporate from the garment. Also, while Bamboo the PLANT has some antimicrobial properties, Rayon (from Bamboo) FABRIC is now not thought to retain those antimicrobial benefits. While that is unfortunate, I hope my customers will agree that it is a wonderful fabric for the intended use. We welcome feedback about the fabric and hope to continue to bring great alternatives to the other brace-shirts out in the market. We did NOT want to use a completely synthetic material that was made from petroleum (such as polyester) and that are treated with additional chemicals to produce moisture wicking. We feel that these products, often made for the fitness industry and other industries (like Scoliosis brace wearers) that require good moisture management, are too synthetic, have too many chemicals, and are less comfortable against the skin than our Rayon (from Bamboo) blend. To read even more about fibers made from Bamboo, click Here.